Revealed: Celebrity Surgeons Master Medical Marketing.
In a highly competitive elective market, your ability to rank top searches, maintain the highest "star rating" on review sites, and create "social proof" online around your practice, will directly relate to your income.
Medical marketing, simply put, offers practitioners the chance to stand out from their competitors. Enjoy a more successful practice and a happier team. The increased profits can also be nice.
Until recently, most surgeons depended solely on word of mouth, or the "me too" marketing technique, which involved placing an ad in a local publication, copying the ad structure of their competitors.
The modern patient is demanding, powerful, perceptive in their observations, and exceedingly selective when deciding who to engage with.
The best option for surgeons to keep up with changing patient preferences now, is to focus their marketing and advertising efforts. Connecting directly with their potential patients online is now broadly referred to as Medical Marketing.
Over 85% of people who have cosmetic surgery are women.
Does your Medical Marketing and Personal Brand online reflect that reality? Are you approachable for, and connected to, your target market?
Will your practice be the most appealing when potential patients reach for their smartphones and begin looking for the “best surgeon for a nose job”?
If done correctly, medical marketing will ensure you're positioned as "the obvious choice" they should work with, regardless of how many other brands are online nearby.
So, how can you do that?
When someone begins browsing your website, they might be looking for:
Pricing
Negative feedback
An X-factor that elevates you over the man who is one Google result above you.
What differentiates you as a surgeon? Your patient service, cutting-edge expertise, and specialist services?
The challenge is that EVERYONE is singing the same hymn. What is it then that no one else is doing quite as well as you? Perhaps the devil is in the detail. The medical marketing.
High street and consumer brands have known the value of marketing their (perceived) uniqueness for decades. Often the decision between two pairs of trainers, handbags or cars comes down to brand perception. Many products from different brands are even made in the same factory, from the same or similar components.
Brand perception is a multi-billion pound industry, and it's coming to elective medicine.
As medical marketing is a new thing, this could be your opportunity to claim and own your space.
Being the BEST brand online pays massive dividends. It's a fact.
To attract top patients - you must present yourself as a well-known surgeon who is an undisputed leader and authority in their field. Your reputation must precede you. Not just through traditional referrals, but online and off.
You must be precise about what you are better at than others, or which type of patient you are more suited to help than others. Finally, take a lesson from the book of celebrity: YOUR Identity, not just your practice's brand, should become the brand you market heavily.
If you sell your practice and/or take in partners, your Personal Brand will have significant value to you, far beyond what you may see today.
Here are 4 of our top medical marketing tips to get you started:
1) Human connection is vital.
Understanding a possible surgical patient's decision-making process is the most effective means of reaching out to, and engaging with them.
The Internet is now the number one source for all forms of information; it has increased the desire for information. Potential patients can spend hours looking over before and after images, trawling websites and chatting on message boards. When they do - you need to be there.
Surgeons can now personalise their practice websites, blogs, marketing materials, and social media to address potential patients' concerns, challenges, and questions. This is the most effective technique to reach out to your key audience.
Set some time aside a couple of times a week to respond to questions raised online yourself, and engage with the public. They are curious, scared or excited about what you do. Help them through that journey, publicly, and you will breakdown the barriers for them. You will be the "go-to" resource.
2) "I wrote the book on xxx."
Being the specialist who "wrote the book on xxx" whatever procedure will give you massive leverage. If you write a book, it will become your most valuable asset in distinguishing yourself from other surgeons.
The writing of the book may take some time up front, but it will pay dividends for years. The best part is, now with companies like Amazon, you needn't shop for a publisher. You can e-publish the book yourself, even charging per copy. You are then a "published author".
You can give free copies (download links) to each patient who consults, perhaps pre-surgery, to build confidence.
Try and be generic in the subject to address many questions they may have, i.e. "A sceptics guide to elective surgery" or similar. You should of course highlight your specialty in the book, as well as more general topics.
A book that's been published is the ultimate business card for your practice.
If you choose to have hard copies produced, it will sit on a potential patient's desk or coffee table for months, and when the time comes, you will be the first person that comes to mind.
3) Establish your own referral system
Create strong incentives to get more people talking about you in your community.
Not much is better than someone telling a friend, "Oh, he's the best." People believe the feedback of someone who has "tasted the goods." Online and off. We call it "social proof".
Review sites are an extension of the concept and should be engaged with across the board. Answer comments in a positive way and make sure you have a high number of reviews as the inevitable negative review that can creep in will have no impact on the rating of a practice with a hundred great reviews.
Potential patients almost always look through reviews and often "break-out" and communicate amongst themselves in sub-communities on places like www.realself.com. When they do, make sure it is you they are referring other potential patients to.
Your newly published book is a wonderful way to get even more referrals. Distribute free copies and encourage your top patients to share them with their friends.
One of the quickest ways to become a local superstar is by positive word-of-mouth, fed by a published book.
4) Get interviewed
A book is also one of the best ways to get media appearances. As a published author, you become a much more valuable commodity who can provide professional advice to the industry.
Your visibility and trust with prospective patients will grow with each appearance or publication.
Marketing your practice through various platforms to reach these patients can easily fit into any healthcare provider's business strategy. However, you must choose a direction for your brand's online presence. A shotgun approach can be costly in both time and money.
When you have something to say, try issuing a press release. There are sites and agencies like YESpbm Personal Brand Management that can help here. Or you can do it yourself. You may comment on a worrying trend like "Dr XX has seen a rise in the number of your girls asking for major cosmetic surgery".
Commenting on social media feeds for celebrity makeover shows may get a little attention, even interviews to discuss last weeks' show, but is that the attention you want? Possibly. Consider the brand position you are looking to achieve.
Here are some great examples of celebrity surgeons mastering their Medical Marketing
Dr Howard Luks is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist active on all social media platforms. Luks is an excellent illustration of how a potentially "average" doctor may maintain a strong social media presence.
Luks frequently posts videos on YouTube in which he discusses common orthopaedic problems and patient issues.
"Studies show that 85% of patients explore their diseases and physicians online," Luks says in the trailer for his YouTube channel. "Healthcare is not social, nor is sports medicine, but humans are." "Shouldn't your doctors be social as well?"
Dr Kevin Pho has been described as "social media's leading medical voice." Kevin M.D. He shares stories from various healthcare system components on his website and blog. He creates a space for doctors, nurses, medical students, and policy experts to exchange their knowledge and experiences. Pho, as the site's founder and editor, posts articles on topics ranging from physician suicide to electronic health records to, of course, social networking suggestions for doctors.
Kevin M.D., of course, has his own popular social media platform. His most visible presence is on Twitter, where he has 160K followers. @KevinMD is an excellent example of social media content syndication. He frequently shares pieces from his blog on his Twitter account, asking readers to read them. The posts are brief and to the point, with an on-topic hook and URL.
Social media can help you maximise your content strategy as a healthcare professional by marketing your business online.
Dr Mikhail Varshavski, often known as Dr Mike, is your "typical" family medical doctor... With an 8 million social media following! Doctor Mike has climbed to celebrity status, becoming one of the most well-known doctors today, with appearances in Time, Cosmopolitan, Business Insider, and People Magazine, to name just a few publications.
Dr Mike grew his Instagram following to a million by posting images of his daily life on the job, at the gym, and with his dog. You'll now see a similar stream of videos, but with many celebrities and sponsored events thrown in for good measure. Along with his demanding professional work, his Instagram presence promotes a healthy and active lifestyle.
He keeps his followers up to date with fresh posts every few days and daily teasers published on his Instagram story. Dr Mike's strategy relies on images, making Instagram the ideal medium. When it comes to online marketing for doctors, photos are an excellent method to interact with patients. Prospective patients will get a sense of who you are before even entering your practice.
Medical marketing is here to stay
Your Online Reputation and that of your practice is crucial to your success.
The first thing a prospective patient will do is search online.
Once they decide you have the potential to be their surgeon, they will go deeper in to your Online Reputation, and that of your clinic.
No-body wants someone holding a scalpel near their face who it's claimed online has ruined somebody's nose. Unless of course there is so much overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and they get comfortable that this is misrepresenting your skill.
Again, that's where medical marketing comes in. Not just building your brand, but protecting it.
The best way to keep your practice brand strong is to analyse and improve your online reputation regularly. Respond to all reviews; and thank users who leave any feedback.
The Bottom Line
We realise this is a lot to take in. We work with clients who don't have dedicated in-house medical marketing teams, or the time and experience to do it themslevfes.
It needn’t be that hard though. Following a good brief, and with monthly status meetings, we can ensure they have the finest online representation possible.
Our approach to tailored Medical Marketing is threefold. Engage YESpbm to;
1) Protect your personal and practice brand
2) Build your brands and presence online and off
3) Monetise the brand. Leverage what you have created and go on to greatness!
Medical Marketing, Online Reputation Management and Personal Brand Management are vital, and evolving opportunities for any successful practitioner.
The team @YESpbm specialises in managing the reputations of top medical talent by developing powerful Personal Brands. Online and Off.
We largely specialise in the medical field, and we are honoured to represent some of the world's top surgeons and clinics. got questions? click here to schedule some time for a free, confidential chat.